Satay Stirfry

Hubby has gone pizza mad since the night we made pizza. He had some friends round the other day and they went shopping and bought lots (and I mean lots) of pizzas. He is still scoffing his way through them all as they didn't manage to eat them on the day! He's going to look like a pizza soon!

I on the other hand wanted something loaded with veg, quick and of course tasty. What else could it be other than a stir fry. I didn't want to use a packet of stir fry sauce as I wanted it to be fresh, crisp and unprocessed!

I decided to make a satay sauce, now when I've made this in the past its turned out stodgy so I knew what NOT to do. Today it turned out brilliantly and I still have some left to use for another day. OK so its not 100% unprocessed as I used ready made peanut butter, but it sure was tasty.

I also made some garlic bread to go with the stir fry, this time I used olive oil instead of a vegan margarine and, my oh my it come out so garlicky and buttery it was untrue. It was truly delicious. I will definitely make garlic bread this way again. Plus its much quicker than the margarine version I have done previously.

Ingredients for stir fry - serves 2-3 people depending on how hungry you are

2 nests of wholewheat noodles

1 onion, finely sliced

1 red pepper, finely sliced

1 green pepper, finely sliced

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

1 courgette, cut into matchsticks

Handful of green beans, top and tailed and cut in half length ways

Packet of marinated tofu pieces (OK these are processed, but they're organic)

1 chilli

Knob of ginger

2 Garlic cloves

Ingredients for Satay Sauce

5 Tbsp crunchy peanut bitter

2 Tbs Soy sauce

3-4 Tbsp Warm water

3 Tsp Red Thai Curry paste (OK this is also processed-but you could make your own)

½ Can of coconut milk

Ingredients for Garlic Bread

1 Baton of crust white bread

5 Tbsp Olive oil

4 Cloves Garlic

Fresh Parsley

Method

Before you start cooking the stir fry you need to make your garlic bread. Cut into your chosen bread and split open. I chose to do diagonal cuts but this wasn't that successful and I ended up cutting through the bread completely and working with the round pieces of bread individually!

However you choose to do it, all you need to do is finely chop the parsley on a board, then crush the garlic onto it and finally pour over the olive oil. Give everything a mix with your fingers and stuff the mixture into the bread. Use the bread to soak up any remaining oil. Or if you're like me rub each piece of bread in the mixture on both sides. 

Get a rectangle of baking paper and wet it under the tap scrunching it at the same time. Wring out the water with your hands and transfer the bread onto the paper. Fold the paper over the bread and transfer to a baking tray. Pop it in the oven that's been preheated to a moderate temperature about 180°C. It will be ready by the time you've chopped and stir fried all your veg and made the sauce.

Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan and when the water has reached a rolling boil add the two nests of wholewheat noodles. Cook for 4 minutes and drain.

Finely chop the garlic, chilli and ginger and stir fry in a little olive oil with the onion. After 3 minutes add the carrots and green beans and continue to stir fry for another 3 minutes. Next add the green and red pepper slices and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Add the courgettes and tofu and stir fry for another 3 minutes. 

Whilst you are stir frying the vegetables make the satay sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add more water if its too thick for your liking, and more peanut butter if its too thin. You won't need all of the satay sauce for the stir fry. 

Add the drained noodles to the vegetables and toss to combine. Pour in the satay sauce, I used about half of what I made and using tongs carefully mix through. Serve straight away with the garlic bread.